Of course, we faced Milan a few seasons ago and in the second leg following a 0-0 draw at the Emirates, we secured a famous win in Milan. The 2-0 victory against the then-reigning European champions was the first time AC Milan had ever lost at home to English opposition.
You may remember that last year the Spuds beat Milan 1-0 at the San Siro, it being the decisive match to eliminate the Italians and send Tottenham through to the quarter finals (where, thankfully, they were mauled 5-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid). So facing - and losing to - English opposition seems to be a feature of their recent European endeavours.
It's hard to predict right now which of the two teams will win the tie. Both Arsenal and Milan are on good runs of form and if we were to match up today it would be a very tight, tense affair. I think we'll know a lot more about the capability of our side to face big teams after Sunday's match at Manchester City.
Roberto Mancini's side finally lost Monday to Chelsea, and that will either bring about rebound determination from City or it'll leave them a bit off as they struggle to cope with their streak finally ending. Robin Van Persie today seemed to come to the same conclusion, thinking that Man City will probably want to bounce back strongly, but also remembering when Man Utd finally ended our 49-game unbeaten streak a few years ago and then we couldn't manage to win for our next five matches.
It'll certainly be a test on Sunday though, and a big one. If we manage to pull off the Italian job then by beating the side managed by the man from the town of Jesi, Italy then we'll have definitely proven that we can defeat the big clubs this season.
I'm not forgetting about our wins over Chelsea or Dortmund, but let's be honest: neither were at their best at the time. Chelsea were (and still are) in transition to their new manager and the style of play he wants them to use, and Dortmund lost two of their best players in the first half of our win. Manchester City probably won't have either of those problems, so it'll be a true test of the lads in red and white.
If we can defeat Man City, and then push on with our great run of form, we'll be in good shape come February. I groaned a bit when I saw our name come out of the pot to face AC Milan, but it's a tie that's winnable. If there's one thing that is for sure, it's that it'll be an electric couple of nights. It's a massive for us, but one that we can win.
A lot will happen between now and then, and it all starts with our match on Sunday up in Manchester. It's the biggest game our our season to date, and we're really going to have to be at our very best to come away with a result.
Here's hoping we do the duty in both of our Italian jobs coming up, starting with a win on Sunday. Till next time,
Fab 4
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